Landed-cost calculator

What will this car actually cost on Irish plates?

Enter the car and the yen price. You get every cost line from the hammer to the NCTS appointment, the VRT band and why, and a range rather than a false single number. Current VRT bands and NOx rates, and the ECB exchange rate of the day.

Where is the car?

JapanGreat BritainNorthern Ireland

Auction or exporter stock, shipped by sea. 0% duty on a Japanese-built car with a Statement on Origin; 23% VAT; VRT and NOx as for any import.

The car

Make

Model

First registered in Japan

Month and year from the export certificate. Age at registration decides the vintage rate.

Fuel

Mileage

Optional. Recorded with the estimate for comparables later.

Emissions evidence

decides the VRT band and the NOx levy

CO2 figure

WLTP figureNEDC figure (older cars)Don’t know

CO2 (WLTP)

g/km

From a Certificate of Conformity, a UK V5C or a CO2 disclosure letter. This is the figure Revenue bands on.

NOx

mg/km

mg/km from the emissions certificate or V5C. Leave blank if unknown: Revenue then charges €600, or €4,850 for a diesel.

Price and Irish value

Price in Japan

Hammer price or exporter asking price, in yen.

Exchange rate (yen)

¥ / €

ECB reference rate 180.94 from 18 Sept 2026, via the ECB. Leave blank to use it, or type your own. A 2% buffer is applied so the estimate errs high.

Irish market value (OMSP)

€

What the car would sell for in Ireland today, not what you paid. Revenue calls this the Open Market Selling Price and bases VRT on it, wherever the car comes from. Check similar Irish-registered cars on the Revenue VRT calculator.

How sure are you of that value?

Sets the width of the estimate range.

Where it was built

decides the customs duty

VIN or chassis number

Optional. A 17-character VIN or a Japanese chassis number such as NHP10-1234567.

Country of manufacture

Override if you know it.

Country of manufacture unknown, so 10% duty is assumed. Enter the VIN or chassis number, or pick the country.

The exporter will provide a Statement on OriginNeeded for the 0% EU–Japan rate on Japanese-built cars. Most established exporters issue one; confirm before you bid.

Shipping

Method

The car drives on and off: it must start, steer, brake, clear the ramps and carry nothing loose. Cheapest.

Irish port

Default freight for this route: €1,100.

Advanced: dates and overrides

Planned registration date

Leave blank for about 8 weeks from today. Matters for the 30-year vintage rate.

Japan-side fees

Leave blank for the default of ¥120,000: auction or exporter fee, inland transport, export documents.

Sea freight quote

€

If you have an actual quote.

Tyre budget

€

Japanese tyres often fail the NCT for lack of an E-mark. €300–600 is typical if they need replacing.

Declare under customs heading 9705 (collectors’ pieces): 0% dutyFor a car of 30 years or more in original state, of a model or type no longer made. Removes the 10% duty; import VAT stays at 23% for a car that will be registered and driven. Worth nothing on a car that already has a preferential-origin statement or that comes from Northern Ireland. The broker must agree the classification; a Binding Tariff Information decision makes it certain.

Your estimate

It appears here as you type.

Still needed: Make, Model, First registered, Price in yen, Irish market value (OMSP).

Purchase, Japan-side fees, freight and insurance
Customs duty and import VAT
VRT by CO2 band, and the NOx levy
Broker, port, translation, NCTS, plates, transport
Then a range that reflects how sure you are of the Irish value

Under the hood

How the estimate is built

Six rules do most of the work. Each one is applied exactly as Revenue and Customs apply it, with the assumptions stated.

1Customs value: The car price, the exporter’s Japan-side fees, sea freight and marine insurance, converted to euro at a rate 2% worse than the ECB reference rate (or the one you enter) so the estimate errs on the high side.
2Customs duty: Japanese-built cars are duty-free under the EU–Japan agreement, but only with a Statement on Origin from the exporter. Without it, and for any car built elsewhere (most Golfs, Polos and A3s sold in Japan were built in Germany), duty is 10% of the customs value.
3Import VAT: 23% of the customs value plus duty. It applies to used cars from outside the EU regardless of age; the six-month and 6,000 km test you may have read about is an intra-EU rule.
4VRT and the OMSP: Vehicle Registration Tax is a percentage of Revenue’s Open Market Selling Price, its view of what the car is worth in Ireland, set by CO2 band from 7% to 41%. A cheap purchase does not lower it. The OMSP you enter is the single biggest source of variance, which is why the estimate shows a range.
5NOx levy: Charged per mg/km on the certified NOx figure. If the figure cannot be evidenced, Revenue charges a flat €600, or €4,850 for a diesel, which is why diesels without paperwork rarely make sense.
6Deadlines: Once the car arrives, the NCTS appointment must be booked within 7 days and the car registered within 30. The estimate assumes registration about eight weeks from today unless you set a date.

For the whole process in order, from choosing the car to the plates going on, read how to import a car from Japan to Ireland. For a car under 30 the estimate also shows the landed cost on its 30th birthday. Working from a budget rather than a price? The maximum bid calculator runs this engine backwards. Weighing a car in Britain or Northern Ireland against one in Japan? The comparison prices all three from one set of inputs. For an engine, a gearbox or a half-cut, use the parts and engines calculator. Have the auction sheet? The auction sheet reader explains it and fills this calculator from it, and the chassis code decoder names the car from its number.